A Different Kind Of Asset
by Selonianth
Summary: A... different take on what might have happened if Charah had happened earlier than canon. Completely unconnected to Chuck vs Plan D. Starts sometime before they ever hear the name Orion but during season 2. Editted to get rid of oopsie about bad guys. Charah.
1. Prologue: Going Rogue

Summary: A... different take on what might have happened if Charah had happened earlier than canon. Completely unconnected to Chuck vs Plan D

Disclaimer: Don't own Chuck.

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Chuck sat on his bed stunned at what Casey had told him. Sarah Walker, his beautiful Sarah, had been reassigned the moment Beckman had learned, through no action of the NSA Major's, that he and Sarah had become involved and that Casey himself was being reassigned as well, the pair's replacements would be there within a few days.

Slowly though, the shock wore off and instead it was replaced with anger, raw biting anger. How dare that bitch take away the best thing that had ever happened to him. How dare she break up their team... their family. She thought she could just replace them and expect him to keep playing along to her drum and fife? She thought wrong. He was a Bartowski and one of the things that meant is you never give up when something important to you is threatened. You don't back down, you don't surrender, and you don't play along.

It was time to teach Brigadier General Diane Beckman that she had fucked with the wrong nerd. Standing up he found an old duffel bag he and Elle had found when they were moving out of the old house and started filling it. Only what he really needed entered the bag; two changes of clothes, one formal, one rough; two pictures he could not bear to lose, one of him and Ellie smiling as they posed for a picture in their new apartment, one of him and Sarah at that Halloween party the year before; then he wrote a note to Elle apologizing for leaving without saying goodbye without saying when, if ever, he'd be back.

Note written he left through the Morgan-Door knowing that Elle was still in the living room with Awesome and he crossed quickly and silently to Casey's. Knocking on the door with a pattern of 'Oh Say Can You See' the door swung open only a scant second after his hand lowered. "Yea Chuck?" an obviously saddened NSA agent Major Casey responded.

"You once told me that a team is a family. My dad, before he left, taught me and Elle that family is everything, and you should do anything to save it," Chuck replied with extremely carefully measured words.

Casey's heart squeezed. He hated the situation too. Not only was Walker the best partner he'd ever had the distinct pleasure and honor to work with, but he could admit that Chuck... grew on people, broke through their carefully trained barriers and tore down their defenses like a Tomahawk Cruise Missile would to a medieval castle. Spies simply had no defense against the force of nature that was EF Five Tornado Chuck Bartowski, much less his Force Five Hurricane Ellenore of a sister. He opened his door though, and even while Chuck entered his apartment he started talking, "There's nothing I could do... Beckman wouldn't listen and orders are orders... even if we don't like them. That's part of being military and a spy."

"Then I guess it's a damn good thing I'm no spy..." Chuck replied, his voice dragging off, "Look Casey, I'd understand if you didn't want to help me, but I'm going after Sarah. I will find her whether or not the CIA wants me to. I will learn where she is, what she's doing, and I will find her. I'm not trained to fight, to spy, to withstand torture, to defuse bombs, or do anything I might need to do, but I don't care. I only have two questions for you."

Casey grunted, he could admire Chuck's refusal to back down against his enemy, Casey had no qualms that the NSA and CIA were very much enemies of Chuck Bartowski at this point. The only question was... did he want to align himself with his agency... or his family. Put that way, he wasn't sure why he hesitated. "They are?" He asked even while he continued to pack, no longer for his reassignment anymore.

Chuck sighed, he suspected he knew what Casey's answer, at least to one of his questions would be, "First, is there a weapon I can have that's nonlethal? Second... will you help me?"

Casey took a moment to regard Chuck. "Well, at least you're smart enough to admit that if you tried to use a gun you'd be more likely to blow your own foot off than hurt anyone with it," He paused when Chuck lowered his eyes, as if in shame, "Don't get like that moron. It's not a bad thing you don't want to kill people. I think it's one of the reasons Walker fell for you so bad, you're incapable of murder. As it so happens there are a number of weapons I could give you that would render a target unable to continue without killing them. Knives can be used non-lethally with some ease, staves, nunchaku, batons, etc. I'm not going to give you any of those."

"Then why-"

"Because you both find causing unneeded pain to be distasteful and because they need training to be useful against the kind of people you're going up against. Training you just don't have. There is however this," He paused, to reach into his rarely touched non-lethal armory and remove an Agency Tranq Gun from it. Tossing it to Chuck he resumed speaking, "This is an M5 Tranq Gun used primarily by the CIA and NSA as well as Fulcrum unfortunately. It fires a dart that is capable of knocking out it's target for multiple hours without lasting side effect. Perfectly non-lethal, unless you hit a person with around twenty or so darts, and just your speed."

"And the second question?"

Casey gave a grin, something he didn't do often, "Like you said Bartowski. We're a family. In this case, the family that spies together stays together."

"I don't think there's any outcome of this where we get reinstated. We're officially going rogue if we do this," Chuck warned, giving Casey one final chance to turn him down.

Casey nodded, moving toward his computer and opening a secure internet connection. "And we'll be hunted for the foreseeable future, I know. I was the hunter for most of my career in the NSA. Their best. Which is why I'm gonna drain any accounts I have, bounce them through at least twenty different cover accounts in as many countries as possible, before it lands in an account the NSA doesn't know about that we'll be able to get access to almost anywhere we go."

"Sarah's?"

Casey frowned, "I don't know all her accounts, much less her off-grid account. Every good spy has one and they stay off the grid because we know the tricks to hide them. Well enough that without the account code you can't find it at all. Meaning I could drain some of her accounts, but it wouldn't be all of them and it wouldn't be into her hidden account."

Chuck sighed, understanding the dilemma, "Don't touch hers then, we can't jump the gun on this... if they know what we're doing before we've done it then we won't even make it out of the country, much less to Sarah's location."

Casey finished draining his and after tossing some of his more favorite guns into a secondary duffle bag, as well as filling a backpack with ammo. "Luckily I know where Walker is, she told me before she left... shouldn't have but she did."

"Step one to go get her then?"

"Not quite. She's been sent on a mission too important for us to just interrupt, doing so would bring even more heat than a pair of escaped agents and an intersect would down on our heads. Step one is to use a small plane I have stored nearby to head up to Canada where a more long-range plane is waiting. That plane is piloted by a CIA pilot so we'll need to knock him out and get rid of him. Step two will be to take that CIA plane to a destination near Sarah after disabling every form of tracking on it we can. Step three will be to wait for an acceptable moment in her mission to swoop in, help her finish, then vanish using the CIA plane."

"You've thought this through..." Chuck spoke with a raised eyebrow.

Casey gave a shrug, picking up his duffel bags and one case full of a variety of spy gear. "You ready?"

Sliding the carrying strap of his own duffel over his shoulder so the strap went diagonally across his chest Chuck nodded and the pair left. It would take two days for the CIA and NSA replacement handlers to arrive, another twelve hours to discover that Chuck was missing, they'd gotten lost and Elle didn't want to talk with people she didn't know.


	2. Bad Op Gone Good

Chapter 2:

A full forty-eight hours before the replacement agents discovered that their charge was missing, only to wrongly assume that Fulcrum had taken him, Chuck and Casey were getting out of Casey's small two person plane and heading to the CIA unmarked plane waiting for them. A dart to the back of the neck and the pilot was out like a light.

"You know how to fly this?" Casey asked Chuck while he secured the pilot. They wouldn't be just leaving him behind, that would give their play away.

"Assuming it's controls are similar to the controls of the various flight simulators... yea. I can't start it up, the controls didn't cover that, but I can fly it," Chuck replied, his statement more confident as he continued to talk. Looking at the controls he could do it.

Casey quickly started the engines, "Get us in the air and point us toward the border of Russia and China... the Russian side, that's where Sarah is and that's why we can't just go in there and pull her out. Graham gave her a very sensitive mission and if she fails, not only will she be burned but bad things could happen to the US and it's allies. That's why we can't just pull her out."

"What's her assignment?" Chuck asked, following directions to set the Gulfstream G650 on a course for the Russian-China border at top speed. The plane's range at top speed was around three thousand miles further than they needed to go so he didn't worry about the lack of fuel efficiency.

"If she was told the truth before she left then she's there to broker a deal between a small group of rogue scientists to get the weapons-grade plutonium out of their hands and away from the open market. If we take her before she either succeeds or negotiations go really south then the government will blame us for the potential nuclear weapons that terrorists or a rogue state could build using the plutonium, if we prevent that by stealing the plutonium ourselves then they'd be after us _for_ the plutonium," Casey paused for a moment to let it sink into Chuck's head, "The plan is to wait to see how it's going to go down, go in if it goes south but either way recover her once her mission is mostly over, we drop the plutonium in the dead-drop they'll have organized and vanish."

"Where will we go?" Chuck asked, his unusual mind trying to figure out where they would be least likely to be found.

Casey grunted, "Some people will say your best bet is to hide in some remote, unpowered and unreachable area. I say if you do that you're cutting off all avenues of escape if something does happen. Others say that you should hide in a densely populated area, get plastic surgery etc to hide who you are. I say all it takes is them getting a new intersect up and running to ruin that plan. Some others say you should hide in a small village with foot-traffic and that's well hidden. The problem with that is that those areas notice new people easily and, in any of the places that wouldn't be as much of a problem, tend to have a lot of very touchy people with guns, nothing we couldn't handle but would make hiding problematic."

"Sounds like we're pretty well screwed," Chuck groaned, getting up from the pilot seat to head into the back having not eaten since breakfast the day before and knowing the Galeforce planes came equipped with a full galley he was willing to bet the CIA kept stocked.

Casey followed him back shaking his head, "Might sound like it, but not quite. The problem with all of those ideas inherently is that you're stationary. Mobility is the best defense against a covert government hunt."

Chuck pulled the makings for a pair of reubens out of the pantry and set to work, "I don't just want to hide. I want to make Beckman regret breaking us up."

Casey regarded him carefully, it was the first time Chuck had said something indicating a desire for payback against anyone. "I won't do anything to harm the United States Government."

"And I don't want to, so that works out just fine. I just want her to pay personally. She's a good woman, I get that, but she messed with my team, so I'll mess with her." Chuck replied, his mind working to formulate a plot to do just that even while he pieced together his sandwich.

Casey nodded slowly, "I'm alright with that. Nothing that would force her to retire, and nothing that would harm the government, beyond that it's fair game... What do you plan to do anyway?"

"Nothing... yet. We'll need Sarah to have any hope of doing this. Anyway, what're we doing with him," Chuck asked, waving one hand in the still unconscious pilot's direction who had been hooded in case he woke up.

Casey took a bite of his own sandwich and started to explain, "A friend of mine is stationed on an aircraft carrier in line with our current course. In around five hours we'll make whatever corrections necessary and drop him, complete with parachute, right into their laps. My friend is used to me doing this with captured terrorists while on route to a new mission so he'll ensure our pilot is taken straight to the brig and left hooded. It'll be another ten hours or so before they unhood him so he can eat, none of them will believe a word he says until someone corroborates, which may be a day or so until they reach land and give him over, or it may be upwards of a week."

Chuck frowned slightly, he didn't mind it since it would only inconvenience the pilot not harm him but he had to ask, "And your friend? Won't he get in trouble?"

"He'll probably be questioned, along with the rest of the carrier which will hopefully delay them another couple days, but since he won't know anything he'll be safe," Casey denied. At most his friend would be annoyed with him for delaying shore leave, the man was too smart to think Casey of all people had gone fully rogue.

Sure enough, five hours later they were nearing the Carrier and slowed down to minimum flying speed, strapped the pilot into the parachute and got ready. "You're sure about this Casey?"

"Yea, I'll open the door you just toss him out and the small shute after him," Casey replied, then held his hand up signalling three, two, one, he slung the door open and stepped back while Chuck pushed on the Pilot's back with his foot and tossed the mini-shute after him. The mini-shute would open the larger one strapped to his back without requiring his input.

The next several hours of their flight were uneventful, Casey spent most of it in the back making sure their gear was set, and cleaning most of the weapons he'd brought, while Chuck spent his in the cockpit keeping an eye on everything to make sure nothing was going wrong.

Soon enough they were approaching their runway in Russia. Casey said he had a contact there who would disable the various tracking devices they hadn't had time to while still in Canada, as well as refuel it for the next leg of their journey, after they got Sarah.

An hour after landing they were setting up in a small hotel about two blocks from the warehouse Casey suspected the deal was going down in, and within sight. Now, all there was to do was wait.

Stakeouts, Chuck decided, turned out to not always be as eventful as they were back in Burbank. Three days later they'd heard nothing and were about to give up and simply look for Sarah directly when they saw a group of rough looking mercs with AK's cautiously looking around before a pair of men carrying a metal canister on two metal poles very carefully moved past them and into the warehouse. Quickly flicking the Laser-mic Casey had thought to bring with them on they listened in.

The men griped with impatience that the buyer wasn't there already when a door opened and closed at what sounded to be the far end of the warehouse. The telltale click of heels said that Sarah had arrived and Casey moved from behind the mic to a rifle they'd set up pointing out the open window but far enough inside to be invisible from the street. It was equipped with a thermal-scope powerful enough to reach through the thin metal the warehouse was made of. Casey was very proud of his rifle, called it Michelle.

Sarah started talking but Chuck frowned at how... apathetic she sounded, almost bored, certainly not herself. Apparently the scientists took offense and one snapped an order in Russian that had Casey tensing up so Chuck grabbed his tranq pistol and after making sure he had spare mags just in case started out of their hotel and toward the warehouse as inconspicuously as possible, which was surprisingly well considering that only a couple weeks earlier his attempt at sneaking during a mission had nearly gotten all three of them killed.

At the door he had only Casey's signal to rely on so he spoke, whispering knowing it would work through the throatmic he was wearing, "How's it sound in there?"

"No one's fired yet... but its sounding more and more like it's going to get there. Head to the south side of the building and enter through the door on that side quietly, you'll be invisible to them but able to hear them yourself, I have a direct visual through the skylight now."

Chuck gave an afirmative hum and moved to the south side, not opposite their hotel but he could no longer see Casey's perch. Silently entering the warehouse he snuck closer until he could see more clearly what was going on. The scientists and their antsy mercs were only getting more antsy and Sarah continued acting... dead despite being pressured on either side by two mercs. "Casey, please tell me they aren't worried this is a setup. I don't see a piece anywhere on Sarah and it doesn't sound like she's trying to convince them otherwise."

Casey's sigh told more than words could but he spoke anyway, "Wish I could... Ok, I'm calling it. When my first shot hits the two mercs holding Sarah you need to start firing. Hit her first, it'll get her out of the way and I have smelling salts to bring her back so we can get the hell out of here. Once you've put a dart into her back just start shooting, stay in as much cover as you can. I'll keep firing. She'll be out of the line of fire, you just make sure to do the same for yourself."

"Ok.. give me a second," Chuck replied taking a deep breath and forcing his panic and unease to leave him replaced with calm, or as calm as he could manage. It was a skill he'd been working on over the past couple days with Casey's help. The NSA agent had been much more friendly and helpful since they'd gone rogue. Why, Chuck didn't know, but he did know that the gruff spy was on his team and he was glad for that. Emotions calmed he gave a quick double-click on the throat mic indicating a ready and waited for the shot.

He didn't hear the shot so much as he saw the two guards next to Sarah drop suddenly, one of their head's almost exploding and the other with a hole to his heart. Not waiting Chuck popped around the corner and fired once, twice, three times. The first dart hit Sarah in the back of the neck, the second and third missed her but took out one of the mercs and one of the three scientists. That left only two more mercs to worry about. Dropping back behind the wall he'd been behind he heard the impact of two more shots against the ground and popped out again to find the remaining scientists attempting to run for the north door before Chuck fired twice and his aim was true this time, both dropped and Chuck sighed in relief, "All targets down, Sarah is unconscious but alive. Get down here."

Less than a minute later he heard the van they'd stolen come skidding to a stop just outside the eastern door which was flung open in Casey's haste to get into the building. "Not bad Chuck, might make a spy out of you yet," he snarked as he moved to use the anti-serum of the tranq darts to wake her up before the normal time. "Alright moron, your lady-friend is gonna be waking up in a moron and I'm sure she'd rather see your face than mine when she wakes up. I'll work on restraining these idiots." He called to Chuck who quickly moved to Sarah's side, lifting her head off the cold concrete floor onto his lap and brushing her hair out of her way.

Sure enough the beautiful spy woke up, her eyes flickering open, just a moment later in confusion, "What happened?" she groaned.

"We did," Chuck replied with a smile, his heart swelling up in his chest now that he had Sarah back in his arms. They'd been together for far too short of a time before Beckman had tried to take her from him and now that he had her back... well, he wouldn't be letting her go anytime soon.

"Wha-Chuck?" Sarah started to ask before her brain recognized who was holding her and finally, for the first time in almost a week, started firing on all cylinders. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, after we got discovered by General Bitch I went into a small bout of depression... course, it only lasted a couple hours before it gave way to anger. I was just... so angry that she had taken you from me that I went to Casey and persuaded him to go rogue with me to find you. Thankfully he already knew where and what your new op was or... I can't even think about it," Chuck started before he choked up, remembering how dead to the world Sarah had sounded. She wasn't always the most emotional of people but she never sounded so dead, lifeless, almost like an animated golem.

Sarah, scooted up so she was no longer laying down and wrapped her arms around him starting to weep, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I should have told Beckman to go to hell, I should have retired or quit or whatever it took to stay with you. I'm so sorry I left Chuck, please forgive me," the beautiful spy sobbed into his chest and Chuck held her closer, his eyes casting over the warehouse quickly, Casey had shot the remaining living Merc, knocked out by Chuck's first three rounds, and had hogtied and tossed the scientists into their own van that he had pulled into the warehouse through the service door.

"I can't forgive you," Chuck started causing Sarah to weep even harder before he brought her chin up so he was looking her in the blue eyes that had so often held him captive, "I can't forgive you because there's nothing to forgive. We're here, you're with me and Beckman can go to hell. It's ok... I love you."

"I love you too! I'm so sorry it took me so long to say it, or that you had to come halfway around the world to hear it, I love you too Chuck Bartowski!" Sarah gasped, her arms tightening around his torso.

The pair stayed like that for another couple minutes before either of them calmed enough to break the embrace, "We've gotta get out of here Sarah, you know where you were supposed to drop that plutonium right?"

Sarah nodded, "There's an abandoned farm two miles out of town, I'm supposed to drive it into the barn and leave to head back to my hotel on foot."

"Well, we'll certainly drop it off, with a bonus of the three scientists, but I don't think you're going to your hotel," Chuck replied with a smirk as they stood up, Sarah a little shakey, her emotions still in chaos and it was messing with her ability to move more than she'd like to admit.

Chuck guided her to their own van and helped her into the passenger seat where she seemed to slump in exhaustion jumping into the driver's seat he allowed her to point the way to the farmhouse she'd described, Casey following along silently in the scientist's van. The spy team were at the farm in fifteen minutes, back to the hotel Chuck and Casey were staying at fifteen minutes after that and packed and heading for the airport where their plane was refueled, debugged, and waiting.

Ten minutes after hitting the airport the three spies were gone, the only evidence they'd been there being five dead mercenaries in a warehouse, three russian scientists and some weapons-grade plutonium in a van, and a missing Sarah Walker.

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A/N: I want to be very clear, Sarah WAS going to die if Casey and Chuck hadn't been there. She ran into a problem with becoming a normal spy again after being with Chuck, that is to say... she couldn't do it. It isn't that she lost her emotional control so much that without the man she loved she couldn't do it anymore and stopped caring.

Also, don't get used to such fast updates. I'm not always like this...


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